Hollywood makes a movie out of everything these days, books, 
TV shows, games, politics. Then why on earth, have they not 
transferred the great HBO series Sopranos to the big screen? 
Ironically, it seems that what is good enough to be on TV is on 
the screen and what’s on the screen isn’t even half as good as 
the stuff they show Lifetime or even a public access channel.

The Sopranos has those characters that really fill the screen 
and engrain themselves into your psyche until you wake up in the 
morning thinking that you’re either sleeping next to one of them 
or one of those wise-guys is holding your wife hostage next door. 
While that may be a good thing to some people, it doesn’t explain 
why that great writing and performances haven’t been seen more in 
the theatres.

Machiavelli Hangman seems to be the answer for all those Sopranos 
fans who had been waiting for a hardboiled gangster movie a la 
Godfather that would grace the silver screen since those glorious 
days of the Godfathers and Goodfellas. 

While many films try to duplicate these films, very few have 
succeeded because they missed that single element of surprise. 
Gangster films – the good ones that is – always have that unique 
approach into that underworld. The Godfather revolved around a 
young man who wanted to stay away from "the family business" but 
despite his wishes, he was forced into it to save his family. 
Goodfellas was the story of another man who was initiated into 
the underworld because he wanted to climb the steps of that 
lifestyle’s ladder. This was also the case in Scarface. 
Interestingly enough, Al Pacino and DeNiro appeared in all 
four films. They may not be in the low-budget production 
Machiavelli Hangman, but the film does carry an impressive 
cast and the storyline weaves in and out of the gangster genre 
and into others that it leaves behind this refreshing feeling.

The plot of MH is based around the story of Sara Lockhart who has 
married into the mob without her knowledge and is now desperately 
trying to find a way out. After she realizes that everything is 
in vain and all her attempts end in dead-ends, she decides to 
kill herself.

The movie really begins to sizzle when she dies in a car accident 
and the filmmakers begin to introduce the characters in the 
"family" and how they each react to her passing. The great thing 
about this film is that it plays with time structures and 
locations, you get the see the same scenes over and over like in 
some Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino films.

There are fascinating elements in the psychology of the 
characters and witty dialogue like in the Sopranos. While there 
may not be so many filmmakers who could pull off such a treat as 
adapting the feel and look and power of the Sopranos onto the 
screen, Machiavelli Hangman may just have achieved it. The 
filmmakers bring together all the right elements in this 
cinematic tour-de-force, and keep up the pizzazz right up to 
the final credits! 

Rickie Vega is a television and movie 
reviewer. He is excited to share with 
you the news about the upcoming,
original, independent film called 
the "Machiavelli Hangman".
http://www.hangmanmovie.com